Jamie Baum ....

BioNYC flutist/composer/recording artist/clinician, Jamie Baum, has toured the US, and over 28 countries performing at major festivals and concert halls including the North Sea Jazz Festival, Sedutirol, Braga, Oeiras, Bermuda, Edinburgh, Friehoffer, Winter JazzFest and JVC Festivals. She has performed with artists as renown and diverse as George Russell, Randy Brecker, Donald Brown, Mick Goodrick, Tom Harrell and Kenny Barron to Dave Douglas, Fred Hersch, Uri Caine, Ralph Alessi, Leni Stern, David Binney, V.M Bhatt, Anthony Braxton and Wadada Leo Smith.

Though focusing primarily on jazz, she has been involved in several projects, performances and tours performing classical, new music, Brazilian and Latin music. Receiving critical praise for five CD's as a leader, Sight Unheard (w/Dave Douglas, Kenny Werner), Moving Forward, Standing Still (w/Ralph Alessi, George Colligan) and her recent Sunnyside Records release In This Life (w/Amir ElSaffar, John Escreet) all received four stars from DownBeat and made several "Best CDs of the Year" lists. Inch By Inch, by the cooperative band Yard Byard: The Jaki Byard Project (w/Jerome Harris, George Schuller), out May 2014 (GM Recordings) also received four stars from DownBeat. Recordings as sidewoman include those by Dave Binney, George Colligan, Ursel Schlicht, Glenn White, Frank Carlberg, Patrizia Scascitelli, Taylor Haskins, Ken Hatfield, etc.

Ms. Baum has been in the DownBeat Critics Polls annually since 1998, winning #3 in the 2014 Top Flutists category and # 1 Rising Star Flutist in 2012. She was nominated by the Jazz Journalists Association for "Flutist of the Year " seven times, including 2014 and her band The Jamie Baum Septet+ was also been nominated in 2014 as "Best Midsize Ensemble of the Year" - in the same list with only two other bands -The Wayne Shorter Quartet and Steve Coleman and Five Elements!

SOLACE Sunnyside 

Jamie Baum - flute, alto flute

Ralph Alessi - trumpet, flugelhorn

Shane Endsley - trumpet

Doug Yates - alto sax, bass clarinet

Vincent Chauncey - French horn

Chris Komer - French horn

George Colligan - piano, fender rhodes

Johannes Weidenmueller - bass

Jeff Hirshfield - drums

Kyoko Kitamura - voice

The Inspiration Of Jazz Flautist Jamie Baum

December 14, 2013 3:00 PM

Baum's latest music is inspired by the late Pakistani vocalist Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, one of the most celebrated voices in the world. While Khan died more than 15 years ago, Baum talks about his influence on her new album, In This Life.
Copyright © 2013 NPR. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.

ARUN RATH, HOST:

Thanks again for listening. This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR West. I'm Arun Rath.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

RATH: That is one of the most celebrated voices the world has ever heard, the Pakistani singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Khan died in 1997, but his recordings continue to inspire. Artists like jazz flautist Jamie Baum.

JAMIE BAUM: I think the first recording I had was called "Mustt Mustt," where it was, you know, kind of Westernized. He had done quite a few things with collaborators in the West, and that was sort of the first introduction.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

BAUM: Something about his vocal quality and the yearning. I mean, I - when I heard him, it reminded me the first time I heard Coltrane or Miles Davis, you know, just something very visceral.

RATH: Jamie Baum used the voice of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan to inspire her writing on a new album, "In this Life."

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

BAUM: I actually did some transcribing of his vocal improvisations to get, you know, an idea of what he was doing. It was rather challenging because it's so fast and his technical ability is just uncanny. So I think I had to, you know, use a slowdown machine two or three times to finally sort of get an idea of what he was doing. And it was very revealing both rhythmically and his embellishment and the way that he develops his solos.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

RATH: You were a music ambassador for the U.S., right, a jazz ambassador?

BAUM: Yes. It was very exciting. I went on a six-week tour in 2002 and went to India for about three weeks and Sri Lanka, the Maldives and also went to Thailand and then went back on subsequent trips to Bangladesh and Nepal.

RATH: You say in the liner notes to this album that you found that the - your visits to South Asia transformative. What do you mean?

BAUM: Well, I think in general, traveling is just such an important thing to other cultures. I think if more people traveled, we'd probably have a lot more peace in the world. I think being exposed to other cultures, and particularly something that really struck me about India is there's just so many contradictions and paradox. And, you know, you'd be driving down the street, and you'll have a fancy Mercedes next to an ox-drawn cart or cows walking in the road and very modern buildings.
Read more: http://www.npr.org/2013/12/14/251060737/the-inspiration-of-jazz-flautist-jamie-baum?ft=1&f=10002

Baum is one of the most accomplished jazz flutists

“…on a cold night in January this reviewer decided to experience the Jamie Baum Septet at Joe’s Pub in the east village. The experience was nothing short of extraordinary. Each tune was gripping, and played to perfection by the ensemble. The best compliment that can be given to such compositional creativity is that all concept of the passage of time was lost… I had been transported…for what seemed like precious few moments, but it was enough to leave me breathless and wanting more.” -- All About Jazz

“Baum is one of the most accomplished jazz flutists of her generation. What sets her apart is the beauty of her tone combined with what I can only call a weightiness-like a baseball pitcher who throws a “heavy” fastball that makes it almost unhittable. Think gravitas, not overbearing.” – Audiophile Audition

“For some years now Jamie Baum and her septet have been offering some of the most compelling evidence to be found that the structural sophistication of chamber music is by no means incompatible with spontaneity, spirit and swing. Her latest effort, Solace, is an excellent place to start: Her long-running ensemble negotiates intricate charts with exuberance and ease.” -- TimeOut, NYC

Jamie Baum, New York flutist/composer/recording and touring artist/clinician, has worked with several renowned musicians as a leader and/or sidewoman ranging from George Russell, Mick Goodrick, Randy Brecker, Donald Brown, Fred Hersch, Kenny Werner and Tom Harrell to Dave Douglas, Uri Caine, Dave Binney, Julian Arguelles, Leni Stern, Ursel Schlicht, V. M. Bhat and Karaikudi Mani. Receiving critical praise for four CDs as a leader, Sight Unheard on Gunther Schuller's GM Recordings, and Moving Forward, Standing Still (OmniTone) both received four stars from DownBeat and were on several “Best CDs of the Year” lists. Listed in DownBeat Jazz Magazine Polls’ “Best Flutists” category every year since 1998 she has also received several grants as a composer. Baum was nominated as “Flutist of the Year” by the Jazz Journalists Association in their 2005, 2006 and 2009 annual jazz awards. She toured for the US State Department/ Kennedy Center Jazz Ambassador Program extensively in South America, Asia and South Asia from '99 - '03. An endorser and clinician for Altus Flutes, Jamie is an adjunct faculty member of the Manhattan School of Music and New School University jazz departments.

Selected Discography
As Leader
-Solace (Sunnyside)
Ralph Alessi,
Shane Endsley,
Chris Komer,
Vincent Chancey,
Johannes Weidenmeulller,
George Colligan,
Douglas Yates,
Kyoko Kitamura,
Jeff Hirshfield

-Moving Forward, Standing Still (OmniTone)
Ralph Alessi,
Tom Varner,
Drew Gress,
George Colligan,
Douglas Yates
Jeff Hirshfield

-Sight Unheard (GM Recordings)
Dave Douglas,
Kenny Werner,
Roberta Piket,
Drew Gress,
Jeff Hirshfield

-Undercurrents (Konnex)
Dave Douglas,
Randy Brecker,
Vic Juris,
Salvatore Bonafede,
Jay Anderson,
Jeff Hirshfield

Jamie Baum has impressed audiences, musicians and critics....

Jamie Baum has impressed audiences, musicians and critics alike with her inventive, finely crafted compositions and commanding and atypical approach to the flute as a lead instrument. Originally from Connecticut, Baum has been living in New York for seventeen years working as a leader or sidewomen with a wide range of consummate musicians including Randy Brecker, Paul Motian, John Abercrombie, Mick Goodrick, George Russell, Donald Brown, Kenny Werner, Fred Hersch, Kenny Barron, Tom Harrell, Dave Douglas, Billy Hart, Mickey Roker, Uri Caine, Ursel Schlicht, Leni Stern, V. M. Bhatt, Karaikudi Mani, Hakim Ludin, etc.; in a wide range of styles. Though focusing primarily on jazz, she has been involved in projects performing classical and new music to Brazilian, Indian and Latin music offering her ample opportunity to develop a strong personal style.

Honors and Awards
Jamie Baum’s last two CD’s, Moving Forward, Standing Still, and Solace were included in several Critics Pick lists for “Best CDs of the Year” (’04 & ’08 respectively) including Jazz Times, Jazziz, All About Jazz, Jazz Improv NY and DownBeat, and she was nominated as “Flutist of the Year” by the Jazz Journalists Association in their 2005 and 2006 annual jazz awards. She was a winner of the prestigious 2003 New Works: Creation and Presentation Award, a component of the Doris Duke/Chamber Music America Jazz Ensembles Project and their New Works: Encore Program grant in 2007; the 1998 through 2002 DownBeat Critic's Poll for Talent Deserving Wider Recognition, the 2003 through 2008 Critic's Poll Rising Star category and their 2004 through 2008 Best Flutists category. Jamie won the ‘96 JAZZIZ Woodwinds-On-Fire contest and was featured in their magazine and CD.

The recipient of the '99 International Jazz Composers Alliance/Julius Hemphill Composition Award in the Small Group category, she has also won three National Endowment for the Arts awards, two Meet The Composer grants, an NPN grant, and was an awarded "Fellow" in the Massachusetts Artists Fellowship Program in composition. Ms. Baum has had endorsement agreements with Haynes Flute Co. and Altus Flutes and continues to work with Altus as a clinician.

Performances at festivals include the Boston Globe Jazz Festival, the Rochester Jazz Festival, Bragajazz Festival (Portugal), Terrassa Jazz Festival (Barcelona), Guelph Jazz Festival (Toronto), NY's Texaco and "What is Jazz?" Knitting Factory Festivals ('93, '97, '98); the Mary Lou Williams Jazz Festival at the Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C ('99, '00); the Freihoffer's Festival in Saratoga, the Kathmandu 2003 Jazz Festival (Nepal), the Venezuela Jazz Festival, the NYC JVC Jazz Festival (’03, ’05), "America Week" (Bangladesh), Germany's Documenta Festival, the Bermuda Jazz Festival, University of Fairbanks Alaska Jazz Festival, Capital JazzFest 2001, the East Coast Jazz Festival, Jazz India (Bombay); Festival of Nations (Paraguay & Bolivia), The Peruvian International Flute Festival; the Newark, Portsmouth, Fairbanks and Cornell University Jazz Festivals; the IAJE Convention (NYC '01); the Texas, Mid-Atlantic, Greater Boston Flute Fairs and the U.S. National Flute Association Conventions ('93, '95, '98, ’04, ‘07); New York's Festival of Women Improvisers, etc. and many colleges.

Media
Having been interviewed and performed for several live broadcasts on WGBH, WKCR, WERS, GMN, WPKN and NPR and several US, South American, and South Asian radio and TV stations, Baum is also featured in a book by Bob Bernotas called Reed All About It that includes interviews and master classes with a wide range of great musicians including George Coleman, Johnny Griffin, Joe Lovano, James Moody, Robert Dick and Don Byron. The Italian flute magazine Falaut recently featured Baum in its spotlight on jazz flutists and she was featured in the August ’04 Prelude section in Jazziz and the Hearsay section of the January ’05 issue of JazzTimes. The July ‘05 issue of Jazziz, which focuses on women, includes a feature on Baum and she was the cover story in the September ’05 issue of Flute Talk. This summer will see the release of the book The Flute in Jazz: Window on World Music by Peter Westbrook, featuring Baum in the chapter on influential jazz flutists.
Education
Baum received her MM from Manhattan School of Music in jazz composition, her BM degree from New England Conservatory of Music in jazz flute/composition and briefly attended Berklee College of Music. Before entering NEC, Ms. Baum spent a year in Paris studying at Ecole Normale de Music. She has studied with Jaki Bayrd, Richie Bierach, Dave Liebman, Hubert Laws, Keith Underwood, Ransom Wilson, Robert Stallman Charlie Banacos, Rich DeRosa, W. T. McKinnley and Ludmilla Ulehla.

Teaching
In addition to teaching privately since 1981 Ms. Baum is on the faculty teaching private lessons at Manhattan School of Music and The New School University. She has also been very active giving master-classes, clinics and workshops for the past fifteen years. Aside from teaching improvisation, ear-training, compositional techniques and flute, Jamie has developed two very successful workshops: "A Fear-free Approach to Improvisation for the Classically-trained Musician" and "A Jazz Flute Survey/ Retrospective" which includes interviews with over 30 renowned flutists including living legends such as Hubert Laws, Frank Wess, Paul Horn and Herbie Mann. Each workshop has a booklet and discography to be used in a clinic or extended course.

Some of the venues where Ms. Baum has presented masterclasses and clinics include: New England Conservatory of Music, Williams College (MA), Thelonious Jazz Club (La Paz, Bolivia), the Litchfield Jazz Festival Summer Music School (CT), University of Bucaramonga (Columbia), The National Conservatory of Music (CNM) of the Dominican Republic, The Peruvian International Flute Festival, Berklee College of Music, University of Chile (Vina Del Mar & Talca), University of New Hampshire, University of Maine/Augusta, University of Tennessee (Knoxville), Houston High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, The National Flute Conventions ('93, '95, '98, ‘04), H & H Music Stores and Lee College (Houston), William Patterson University (NJ),etc.